Elective Abortion is not Synonymous with Genocide

The words “genocide,” “Holocaust,” and “Nazi” are often misappropriated in order to draw attention to a group or individual’s cause. Frankly, when I hear people refer to global warming as genocide or President Obama as a Nazi I just see it as a sign of complete and utter ignorance. Despite an individual’s politics or views on global warming, to use the words “Holocaust” and “genocide” to market attention is idiotic, insensitive, and so absurd it is often comical. I found it difficult to laugh, however, when I read that teens protesting outside the New Mexico Holocaust and Intolerance Museum in Albuquerque were demanding that the museum include an exhibit comparing the Jewish Holocaust to abortion. The students in attendance were participants in a training session offered by “Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust,” a pro-life group.

KOB News (a local news channel) was on the scene to investigate and explained that “Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust” bussed in students carrying signs comparing Albuquerque to a Nazi concentration camp. Three students even held up a banner reading “ABQ America’s Auschwitz.” The pro-life organization claims that New Mexico’s failure to put term limits on abortion makes the state comparable to a Nazi death camp. The Museum had to close early because protesters started to come inside the exhibit space to pass out pamphlets and press their agenda. Chris Ramirez, a KOB News correspondent, asked one of the teenagers what she knew about New Mexico’s abortion laws, to which the girl admitted to knowing little to nothing. He also uncovered that “Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust” bussed many of the teenage protestors to New Mexico from California without first explaining New Mexico’s abortion legislation. I am going to go ahead and guess that the organization also failed to teach the students what “genocide” means and the history of the Holocaust. Hopefully those who intruded on the Museum to pass out materials took a second to read an exhibit or two.

While I can respect an individual’s right to stand up and protest for what she or he believes in, referring to abortion as genocide is hyperbole. I am confident that informed pro-lifers can make arguments against abortion without being insensitive to and insulting actual victims and survivors of genocide.